You Are My Love
by LalaMoped
Summary: Because the Konoha Twelve had to be born somehow. A series of shorts about the Mommies and Daddies of Konoha. Fifth chapter: HiashiOC
1. Inoichi and Umeko

**わたし恋人貴方です  
You Are My Love**

**One: Inoichi and Umeko**  
Genre: Romance  
Word count: 789  
Warning(s): Fluff, OC, made-up history, OOC-ness (maybe)  
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its affiliated characters. Umeko is only partially my own, as she is based on Ino's personality.

* * *

My mother had just been hospitalized, and my dad asked me to run to a nearby flower shop to get her some roses. I argued that roses were an inappropriate flower for the occasion, and he quickly waved me off with the order to get whatever did suit the occasion, but to hurry up about it.

The Yamanaka flower shop was beautiful. I had always envied a family that could own one, and in previous years, my girlhood fantasies had included marrying a white knight with the biggest garden in Fire Country, so that I could spend my days amongst the flowers with our fifteen children. That dream had died away sometime after I turned fifteen. Now, at nearly seventeen, all I wanted was a boyfriend.

The cool air was the first thing to hit me when I opened the door; the fragrance was the second. The flowers were all sorted by type, with the exception of the display arrangements in their colorful vases. A guy with hair the color of sand looked up when he heard the bell above the door chime.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

I pulled my own platinum blonde hair over my shoulder and smoothed it nervously. "I need to make a get-well bouquet for my mom," I explained, smiling what my father called my 'contagious' smile.

He stood to help me, and the light caught his hitai-ate. Looking back, I shouldn't have been surprised. The Yamanaka clan was best-known for their family jutsu.

Regardless, I asked in awe, "You're a ninja?"

"Yeah," he answered slowly. "A chuunin at the moment, but I'll be promoted soon."

"Sugoi!" I yelled. "So why the flower shop?"

He raised an eyebrow. I'm sure he probably got silly civilians like me asking him the same stupid questions all the time. With a shrug, he answered, "My mom likes her projects, my dad likes my mom. It's probably just another phase of hers."

"Oh, I hope not," I said without really thinking. "This place is wonderful."

He sighed. "Then you work here. I'm missing out on training when I have to look over the shop." He wandered over to the display of daisies and held one up for me to look at. "These are pretty," he said. "Want them in your bouquet?"

I laughed. I didn't mean to offend him, it was just funny to me. "Only if I'm asking my mom out on a date."

"What?"

"Don't you know anything about the language of flowers?"

"I'm a boy," he stated blankly, as if it was an excuse.

"How about white stargazer lilies, peonies, and yarrows?" I asked him. At his blank stare, I sighed in mock exasperation and waved a hand for him to follow me. I moved along the displays, plucking out each of my selected flowers and handing them to him. Once that was finished, I picked a pale pink vase and set to arranging the flowers just so.

"Hey, you're pretty good," he commented, making me blush. "I should tell my mom to give you a job here," he muttered, more to himself than to me. I answered anyway.

"Really? That would be so great if you did!"

"Sure. What's your name?"

"Umeko. What's yours?"

"Inoichi," he answered with a smile, and I was dazzled by how blue his eyes were.

Then I caught a glimpse of the clock, and freaked out. "I've been here for twenty minutes already? My dad is gonna be soooo mad! How much for this?"

"It's on me. Thanks for the lesson," Inoichi said, snorting at the last bit.

"Are you sure?"

He shrugged. "Sure. Just come back tomorrow, okay?"

I blushed. "Okay," I said as I hastily made my way to the door.

"I hope your mom feels better soon!" he called after me, just before the door shut.

* * *

After that, I started working at Yamanaka's Flowers. After a year, just as Inoichi had predicted, his mother became bored with her little shop, and she asked me to take over the business for her.

"It doesn't seem right," Inoichi pouted randomly one night after we closed up the store.

"What doesn't?" I asked absently, already planning what I should make for dinner.

He scrunched up his face in a 'you-should-already-know' way. "You taking over Yamanaka's Flowers when you're not even a Yamanaka," he replied matter-of-factly.

"So what?" I asked, a little irritated. "You want me to turn down her offer?"

"No," he muttered, looking away. A moment later, he produced a daisy and a velvet box from his pocket. "I want you to be a Yamanaka," he said.

I almost fainted. There was no way he could be asking what I thought he was asking. But there was no doubt about it when he popped the lid of the box open, and a modest diamond sparkled at me in the moonlight.

"Inoichi?"

"Yes?"

"Do you want fifteen children?" I asked.

He looked around confusedly. Eventually, slowly, he answered, "No...?"

I smiled at him. "Neither do I."

* * *

**A/N: This is just some random thing I started doing to cure up some of the writer's block I've been experiencing. I need something to do between trying to write action scenes for Wanted. Some fluff was in order for my poor brain. Plus, sometimes you just need to take a step back from all of the pairing-war drama. And what better way than to write about couples that are already together?**  
**Anyway, even though Umeko is _technically_ an original character, I don't really see her as such. While I might write about Minato and Kushina, or Fugaku and Mikoto, or Shikaku and Yoshino at some point, for now, I'll probably stick with giving a second parent to the people who already have one. And I doubt I'll touch on Sakura, Tenten, or Lee, because I'd have to construct _both_ parents for each of them.**

**Sorry for the rant. Feel free to review.**


	2. Shibi and Michi

**わたし恋人貴方です  
You Are My Love  
**

**Two: Shibi and Michi**  
Genre: Romance (er, sort of)  
Word count: 793  
Warning(s): Crack, OC, OOC-ness  
Disclaimer: Naruto and affiliated characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi, who has given me permission to use them. Okay, that last part was a lie.

* * *

Insects were in the family. In the _blood_. Because of this, Shibi had long ago accepted that if he didn't marry within the Aburame clan (a distant cousin, perhaps), he probably wouldn't marry at all. After all, women weren't exactly _falling over_ themselves to marry Aburame men.

The whole thing wouldn't have mattered to him, if not for the demand that he produce an heir. Every day, from the time he turned nineteen, there was someone asking him when he planned to settle down. And in the end, there was nothing he wouldn't do for his clan, so he began to look at the females around him.

He studied his family tree religiously. Not many people knew this, but he was extremely (read: irrationally) afraid of having a child that was in any way abnormal. Well, _more_ abnormal than having insects living inside of him, anyway. And everywhere he looked, he found a genetic risk in every eligible female who would ever be willing to marry him.

* * *

Michi was a chuunin. A teacher at the academy. Shibi had known her for quite some time, as they had been classmates many years ago, and she had been one of the only people who hadn't been at all bothered by the insects inside his body. She had always been outdoorsy, but not in the usual, tomboyish way that most kunoichi were.

As Shibi pondered his bachelor status one day, Michi found him, sitting next to him with a quietness that went above and beyond shinobi skill. There were rumors that Michi's parents had tied a bell on her when she was a kid, just to know when she was about. Regardless, her stealth made her an excellent wildlife observer.

Shibi, long since over being startled by her ability to suddenly appear, merely greeted her with the tilt of his head.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked. "There isn't much in the way of insects in this area," she told him. "Too many natural predators."

"Just thinking," he answered shortly. "What are you doing here?"

She pinned her frizzy, brown hair back and shrugged. "I've been documenting bird mating rituals," she said. Pulling out a tablet and a pen, she began to flip through the pages. They were both quiet for some time as she made new notes and reread old ones.

"Did you know that female worker wasps develop from fertilized eggs, while male drones develop from unfertilized eggs?"

"No, I did not," Michi answered.

He watched her flip to a page titled, 'Insects,' and write down this new information (adding a "must investigate further," note on the side).

"Did you know that the smallest fish in the world only grows to be roughly one centimeter long?" she asked him in return.

Grinning behind his coat, he conceded that he did not know that, and proceeded to throw out random fun facts about insects, being met with facts about mammals, fish, and birds in return.

"Did you know that a human infant is able to identify its mother by scent after only two days of contact?"

A little surprised, Shibi answered, "Yes. I did, actually."

"Ah. I suppose you win, then." After a pause, she looked at him again, "Would you be willing to let me study your insects?"

Shibi gave pause at this. Of course, she didn't know how personal that sort of thing was, but he still found it a bit embarrassing. In order to deter her without sounding harsh or giving away that it made him uncomfortable, he answered in his most nonchalant voice, "Would you be willing to let me use your womb?"

Michi's green eyes widened at that, and a hand drifted over her midsection subconsciously. "Are you asking me to give birth to your heir, Shibi-san?"

He was about to deny that he had actually meant it, but something in her tone had him stopping to think about this. Why hadn't she seemed like a possibility before? They had known each other for a long time; even kissed once (granted, it was during a party game when they were genin, and he had also kissed Hyuuga Aya that same night).

"What if I was?" he ventured.

She tapped her pen against her knee in thought. "Honestly," she told him, not looking him in the eye, "If you _were_ asking, I'd probably say yes."

"Well, if I _did_ ask, and you _did_ say yes, would you be willing to live with me - for the sake of convenience?"

"If you _did_ ask me, and I _did_ say yes, I would _expect_ you to have a place for me in your home. I _might_ even go so far as to _expect_ that you make me your wife."

"Then yes, you may study my insects," he said finally.

With a tilt of her head and a small smile, she answered, "Then yes, you may use my womb."

* * *

**A/N: Don't ask me what I was thinking when I wrote this. I honestly do not know. And I hope to never use the word 'womb' again. -shudders-  
**


	3. Tsume and Arata

**わたし恋人貴方です  
You Are My Love**

**Three: Tsume and Arata**  
Genre: Romance (well, as romantic as one would think Tsume capable of), Angst  
Word count: 540  
Warning(s): Mentions of smex, OC, Tsume's potty-mouth, ignored timeline  
Disclaimer: Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto and related characters. I own Arata.

* * *

"Why do we always end up like this?"

The fanged woman grinned at her bed partner. "Because you can't resist me," she answered cheekily.

He snorted, but there had to be some truth to it, considering how often he ended up sleeping with her, despite the fact that she drove him insane.

"Arata," she called his name, rolling away from him and taking his blanket with her when she stood. "Promise me something, okay?"

He glanced at her as she moved about his apartment, collecting her clothing. "Hm?"

"No matter what happens, never _ever_ ask me to marry you."

Arata's gaze moved back to his paneled ceiling.

"I mean it," she snapped when he didn't answer. "Promise me, dammit."

"I promise," he muttered.

She nodded to herself, "Good."

* * *

"We've got trouble."

As two shinobi, he supposed she could have meant village-related trouble, but he doubted she'd be so bored about it if that were the case. Beside her, Kuromaru rolled his eye.

"I'm assuming you mean our kind of trouble," Arata guessed, keeping his eyes on the forest.

"What other kind is there, Dipshit?" she snapped.

Arata was used to this. Tsume was short tempered when she thought someone was wasting her time.

"I thought it might have something to do with our jobs. We're in the middle of a war, in case you've forgotten."

"The war will have to wait a second. I'm pregnant."

"And I'm the father?"

She raised an eyebrow, and he instantly regretted asking.

"Well, you can't blame me," he muttered. "One can never be _sure_."

Tsume would have been offended if she hadn't been notorious for her promiscuity. As it was, she chuckled. "You're such a dumb-ass," she told him.

"But I'm _your_ dumb-ass."

"Do we love each other?" she asked out of nowhere.

He looked to the sky. "It's debatable," he admitted. "I guess it depends on how you define love."

"That's what I thought," she said, not at all upset.

* * *

Arata looked to the woman in bed beside him. She was obviously ignoring him.

"It's not like I have a choice," he defended. "A mission is a mission."

Tsume kept her eyes on the closet on her side of the room. "I already told you I don't care," she reminded him. "You can do what you want."

Arata didn't say anything, and if not for his breathing, she'd have thought he had fallen asleep.

"They'll miss you," she said at last.

"Hana maybe," Arata replied. "Kiba probably won't even notice I'm gone. But this isn't about _them_, is it?"

"Don't assume that I give a damn where you go or for how long."

"It's only a couple years," he insisted for the seventh time that night.

Tsume growled in the back of her throat. "Spy missions are _dangerous_," she reminded him.

"Just being alive is dangerous for a shinobi. You expect me to stop being a ninja because of that?"

"I said I don't care, and you don't need my permission, anyway."

Arata sighed, "You're being childish, Tsume."

"Well, maybe if you weren't so damn _collected_ all the time, there'd be enough maturity to go around."

"Please remind Hana and Kiba that they have a father while I'm gone. I'd hate to come home and be a stranger to them."

* * *

When Arata left the next morning, Tsume refused to say goodbye to him.

It would prove to be one of her biggest regrets, especially after the report came in that Arata had been declared MIA.

* * *

**A/N: Enough of this happy fluff! Have some angst... Don't worry, I'm sure the fluff will be back in the next installment.**

**Arata was designed to be Tsume's opposite, which is why he's so calm and level-headed. I figured that Tsume wouldn't really talk about Arata much after he (presumably) dies, so Kiba would just assume that she had scared him off, seeing as how Kiba was a baby when Arata left for the mission. I implied this, but I didn't come right out and say it, so I wanted to make it clear for anyone who was confused.**


	4. Chouza and Tomomi

**わたし恋人貴方です  
You Are My Love**

**Four: Chouza and Tomomi**  
Genre: Romance  
Word count: 978  
Warning(s): OC, meandering plot  
Disclaimer: We're still doing this? Fine. I don't own it.

* * *

"Oi. It's that weird girl again," muttered Shikaku, looking over his blond teammate's shoulder at the dark-haired girl across the room.

Inoichi grumbled, ducking his head. "She hasn't seen us yet, has she?" he asked, eying the door and guessing how long it would take to get there. _Too long_, he decided.

As their corpulent third member turned his head to look, Inoichi swatted at his arm.

"Don't look! She'll notice use for sure."

Chouza nursed his bruised arm with an over-exaggerated pout. "I don't see what the big deal is," he whispered.

"'_The big deal_'? That girl gave me chocolates for Valentine's Day!" Inoichi almost shrieked in a girlish fashion. "I mean, look at her! She's fa- ... Er, _curvy_," Inoichi corrected himself before massive property damage could get them kicked out of _yet another_ business.

Chouza shrugged, "They were good chocolates. You should have had some instead of freaking out."

"Chouza's right," Shikashi added. "About the freaking out thing, anyway. Troublesome as it is, if you had just told her you weren't interested, she would've probably left you alone."

"Should-a, would-a, could-a," retorted Inoichi. "How do I get rid of her _now_?"

"Well, White Day is in a few days. She'll probably get the hint when you don't give her anything in return."

"_Great_," was Inoichi's sarcastic reply.

* * *

Tomomi sighed, running her fingers through her cropped pixie-cut. It was obvious that she was being avoided. The way his friend gave her the stink eye gave it away instantly. It was too bad that avoiding _him_ in return was nearly impossible.

"Tomo-chan!" her mother suddenly called out to her. "There you are. Hurry up and take your shift in the kitchen."

Tomomi pouted, but did as she was told. One would think that being the daughter of the owner of the most popular hang-out in Konoha would have some benefits. Unfortunately for her, all it earned her was a mountian of dishes to wash every day.

* * *

Chouza checked the time and blew out a breath. The restaurant had closed over an hour ago, and Tomomi still hadn't come out. He supposed waiting for her like this was silly, but he honestly couldn't stand to see the girl's heart get shattered on White Day. He'd just tell her gently that Inoichi wasn't interested, so the poor girl could move on.

When the back door of the kitchen finally swung open, Chouza spun to see who had come out. And since Tomomi was the only person still there, it wasn't at all surprising to him when she stood in the doorframe, blinking at him.

"Ah, hello," she said, blushing. "What are you doing out here?"

The Akimichi averted his gaze. "I need to talk to you about something," he stated in one breath.

"Oh." Tomomi stepped out and locked the metal door behind her. Once finished, she looked back at Chouza, who still refused to look her in the eye. "Is this about Valentine's Day?" she asked quietly.

Chouza nodded.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be a bother," she tried to smile, but it got lost along the way. "I just... Well, I can't help the way I feel."

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "But sometimes the people we like don't like us back. Sometimes they like somebody else." Chouza scratched his arm absently. The conversation wasn't going at all the way he had planned.

"Well, I hope she returns your affections," Tomomi said sincerely. "You deserve to be happy."

Chouza tilted his head, looking every bit like a bear doing algebra. "What?"

"The girl you like," Tomomi clarified. "I hope she likes you back."

"Who, uh..." Chouza gaped at her, grasping for a coherent thought. "Who said we were talking about me?"

"Who else would we be talking about?"

"Inoichi!"

"What?" She looked around as if she suspected Chouza of being a lunatic. "Why would we be talking about him?"

"Because he... I mean, you... Didn't you give him chocolates?"

"Yamanaka Inoichi?"

"Yes."

"_No_," she seemed almost offended. "Why would _I_ give_ him _chocolates?"

Chouza was getting more and more confused, "I don't know, but you did."

"Oh, my gosh. I did?"

"Yes!"

"Well, it was an accident! It took a lot of nerve to walk up to you guys, and then you expect me to carefully make sure the right person gets it?"

"I don't know how you planned for it to get to the right person, otherwise."

Tomomi's mouth snapped shut, and she ducked her head, utterly mortified. "I am an idiot," she mumbled into her hands.

"No, no, no, no. It was an easy mistake... I guess. Maybe." When that failed to make her feel better, Chouza put a hand on her shoulder. "They were good chocolates, anyway. You could probably make a living selling them," he tried to comfort her.

"So... You ate them? And you liked them?"

Chouza nodded vigorously, "Uh-huh. If I could eat them _every_ Valentine's Day, I could die happy. So if Shikaku turns you down..."

"Shikaku? They weren't meant for Shikaku," she protested not even noticing what he was about to say.

"Then who?"

"You!"

"Me? Really?"

"Yes, really."

They spent almost a whole minute just staring at the ground and blushing, both too nervous to look at the other.

"Say, Tomomi..."

"Yes?" She stood on her tiptoes, staring at him like a frightened rabbit.

He scratched the side of his face, averting his gaze once more. "I was wondering if you'd... sorta, maybe... want to get some dinner with me?"

"Right now?" she asked, ignoring the fact the it was after nine, and therefor much too late for dinner.

"Yeah. I know this place that serves the best donburi."

Her eyes lit up, "Really? Lead the way!"

He laughed and they began to walk side by side, until he remembered something.

"Won't your parents be worried about you?"

"Oh, _no_. They won't even notice I'm not home," she assured him, as they continued on.

As it turned out, Tomomi's parents _did_ notice when she didn't come home, and punished her thoroughly when she finally returned a little after midnight. But for all the scolding in the world, Tomomi wouldn't have traded that night for anything.

* * *

**A/N: I've had this done for a while, but I debated whether or not I should upload it. I'm not as proud of it as I have been of other things. But, in the end, I didn't have the heart (or energy) to rewrite it. As some of you may have noticed, Tomomi doesn't have much of a personality, and that's probably due to the fact that I couldn't really pin down how she would have to act to make a suitable wife for Chouza.**

**Sigh. Let's hope the next one goes more smoothly.  
**


	5. Hiashi and Suzu

**わたし恋人貴方です  
You Are My Love**

**Five: Hiashi and Suzu**

Genre: Romance (eh-heh…)  
Word count: 1,502  
Warning(s): OOC, Made-up Japanese festival  
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any affiliated characters, and I own Suzu only in name. You can tell I don't own Naruto, because if I did, well, that would take forever to be updated, too.

* * *

Hiashi sat quietly. Across the table from him was the girl that his father had chosen for him to marry. To say the moment was awkward would have been an understatement.

The girl sneezed delicately. Hiashi flexed his fingers in his lap. They were completely silent, save for the purple-haired girl's tiny sniffles.

Growing tired of her wheezing, he looked up sharply. "What is wrong with you?"

"Allergies, Hiashi-sama," she answered, ducking her head. "Forgive me. I'll try to be quieter."

He resisted the urge to rub at the forming migraine on his brow. Why was everyone so afraid of him? His twin brother had little trouble making friends, so what was he doing that repelled everyone from him? And after another few moments of silence, upon hearing her swallow nervously, he stood abruptly.

"Come on," he ordered, a bit more harshly than he had anticipated.

"Hiashi-sama?" she questioned, staring up at him, wide-eyed.

He pulled the dainty girl to her feet, ignoring her protests. "We are going to correct this," he told her, towing her from the room. "It is obvious that neither of us wants to marry the other."

"B-but, Hiashi-sama..."

"And nothing has been finalized yet," he went on heedless of her objection. "There should be no reason that this union must continue."

At last they came to the doors, which hid the Hyuuga Elders' meeting room behind them. Hiashi, at this point disregarding what was proper and what was not, threw open the door and peered inside, only to find the room empty.

"They went into the village center for the festival," his unofficial fiancée said to him. "They felt it would be inappropriate not to make an appearance, Hiashi-sama."

He was tempted to throw a fit, but reminded himself that at fifteen, one was not supposed to act in such a manner. "Fine. Then we will go there and find them," he said stubbornly, moving quickly to exit the compound.

"Hiashi-sama," she fretted, pulling her skirts above her feet so that she could follow after him with less danger of tripping. "I don't think we should... We were told to stay..."

"Something tells me that you always do as you're told... What was your name, again?"

"Oh, it's Suzu."

"Suzu. Hush now and follow me." He marched on stubbornly, listening to the pattering of Suzu's tiny feet behind him, and the occasional wheeze from the girl. At least she was following his orders without complaint.

The village center was decorated with colorful streamers and paper lanterns. For the life of him, Hiashi couldn't figure out what was being celebrated, and he had a sneaking suspicion that the rest of the villagers didn't know, either; they'd find any reason to drink. He scoffed inwardly.

They passed a stall, where a man was promoting a ridiculous game involving knocking down empty bottles. He had cheaply-made stuffed animals set off to one side for the winners, most of them pastel-colored. Suzu paused at the stand to eye a pale pink rabbit, and the vendor was quick to notice her.

"See something you like, Hime-chan?" he asked her, startling her back a few feet. "Just 250 ryou to play."

Hiashi grabbed her hand. "We don't have time for this nonsense," he muttered, pulling her along.

"What? Afraid you'll look like a wimp in front of your girlfriend?" goaded the vendor after them.

"I will not be swayed by your childish tactics," Hiashi brushed the comment off.

The vendor continued to call after them until they were out of sight, but Hiashi held firm and pulled Suzu along at a steady pace.

"If I may, Hiashi-sama," Suzu murmured in a small voice, "I think it's really great that you didn't let that man drag you down to his level."

"It's fine. He actually thought _you_ were my girlfriend? The very notion is ridiculous."

"... Oh." She brushed invisible lint from her sleeve, peering at the non-existent offender with more interest than it really deserved.

Hiashi didn't seem to notice her discomfort as he continued on diligently.

Behind them, the Hyuuga elders passed the main road, speaking quietly to the third Hokage and his advisors, unnoticed by the young Hyuuga heir.

* * *

Hiashi and Suzu wandered along the colorful streets, unbeknownst to them, only barely missing the elders on several occasions. As the sky darkened, the festival grew more crowded, and Suzu blushed as Hiashi tugged her closer to keep her from getting lost. He only paused when he heard a very masculine growl, and turned to look at the beet-red girl behind him.

"S-sorry, Hiashi-sama," she mumbled. "My stomach."

He looked around until he spotted a nearby food stall, and he led her toward it, getting an order of dango for each of them. They found an empty bench and ate in silence, watching couples dance in the square to jovial folk music. Suzu watched dreamily, admiring the way the men led the women in various dances, some that she knew, others that she didn't. Her pale eyes wandered toward the Hyuuga heir, and she blushed as she wished she were brave enough to ask him to dance with her. Of course, that would be improper.

Hiashi furrowed his brow when he noticed the girl beside him glancing at him furtively. She was a very strange girl. He had no idea why the elders had chosen someone so sickly, either. The whole purpose of arranging these marriages was to find strong brides with which heirs could have strong children.

But, as he watched her stare wistfully at the dancers, he found himself feeling a little guilty. He hadn't been very nice to her all day, so consumed in his mission to end his engagement, and she hadn't gotten the chance to do anything fun, even though they had spent the whole day at a festival. Feeling a little nervous, and berating himself for it, Hiashi stood abruptly and held his hand out to Suzu.

The girl stared in shock for a moment, but it quickly turned to joy, and she took his hand and allowed him to pull her into the square as a new song started. Suzu was shy, and couldn't look at him as her feet easily found the rhythm of the music, only to stop when Hiashi stepped on her toes.

"Sorry," he muttered. He took another clumsy step, staring at his feet in deep concentration.

She watched him, fascinated. "Hiashi-sama," she whispered, "Do you not know how to dance?" He didn't answer, but his frown said all that needed saying, and Suzu giggled.

"It's not funny."

"I'm sorry," she smiled at him. "Here, let me show you." She hopped skillfully to one side and then kicked her foot up, turning and doing it the other way afterward. She soon learned why he was called a prodigy as he repeated each of her steps and was able to put them together into the dance before the song had even finished.

They spun together to the beat, only stopping when the music did. Even when the next song started up, they remained still, panting as they studied each other's faces. For the first time, Hiashi noticed how pretty the girl was, her face flushed form the exertion of their dance and her hair no longer laid perfectly down her back. Subconsciously, Hiashi brushed a violet strand out of her face.

"Please," Suzu said, her voice tiny, but Hiashi heard it anyway. "Do not call off the engagement, Hiashi-sama. I've worked so hard for the opportunity to stand beside you." Suzu averted her eyes, her breathing becoming erratic, as Hiashi frowned.

"Suzu, look at me," he commanded, and with the slightest prompting of his hand under her chin, she obeyed. He tried to find words for the situation, but when he saw her frightened eyes and blushing face, he couldn't think of anything to say.

"Didn't I say they'd get along perfectly?"

"I believe you might have. What I don't recall is giving either of them permission to leave the compound."

Hiashi and Suzu separated immediately as the elders chose the worst possible time to finally appear. Or perhaps it was the best time. Looking at Suzu, Hiashi wasn't completely sure.

Clearing his throat, Hiashi squared his shoulders and looked sternly at the elders. "Suzu-san and I were just…" he glanced at the girl, who was doing her best not look disappointed. "Enjoying the festival," he finished with an internal sigh. "It was too nice of a day to be shut away inside, and if the goal was for us to get to know one another, we managed just fine out here."

"I can't argue with that," one of the elders conceded, and once one had accepted what Hiashi had to say, the others followed suit. "But perhaps you can ask for permission before the two of you go on another impromptu outing," the elder suggested.

"Certainly," Hiashi bowed his head. Giving Suzu a private smirk, he added, "Until we're married, anyway."

* * *

**A/N: Yes, I know. I deserve to have rotten fruit thrown at my head for making everybody wait for another chapter and then having it be so unsatisfactory.**

**Why is Suzu just like Hinata? Because I'm unoriginal. Thanks for reading!  
**


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